Comes the Savior
Water dripped almost lazily from the eaves above the street. Not a single person, stray dog or bird graced the coldness with it's presence. There was not a soul wandering the streets to see the small girl huddling in fear behind a dumpster, hugging her trembling knees to her chest and crying silently into her arms.
Not a soul, but there were monsters, Vampires, with their twisted faces and cold yellow eyes. This night they were out in force, even for Sunnydale, this was excessive.
Somehow, cuddled there in the dark, the girl escaped their notice, although it was her that they sought. Even though the smell of her fear was heavy in the air, something divine allowed her to escape capture and death. It hid her from their senses. well, all but one.
Spike was grumbling to himself, as usual. A little about the number of vampires he had to dodge this night, a little about the chip in his head. But mostly, it was about Buffy. That damn girl! He ran a hand though his permanently bleached hair and threw the butt of his cigarette into a garden.
He was so deep into his own private world that the stink of incredible human fear nearly escaped his notice. Vampires are attracted to fear, blood and bright colors. Spike on the other hand tried to avoid all of the above. Fear frustrated him, as he was rarely the cause of it (and after these last few years, he wasn't sure how he felt about that). Blood, though the only thing that sustained him, always came from a butcher who didn't ask questions. Bright colors? Well they just didn't match his skin or personality.
This fear however reached out and grasped him by the throat! He felt saturated by it. Any other vampire would have 'changed' at once. Taking on the prominent forehead and cold yellow eyes of the hunt and found its source to feed. These things didn't come naturally to Spike anymore, and he really wasn't sure he minded. So, track the scent he did, but not to feed. He wasn't really sure why he went, curiosity perhaps, that's what he told himself. To the casual observer however, it would have been obvious he was running to the rescue despite himself.
Halfway down an ally, curled up behind a dumpster and crying was the pitiful little creature he could smell. A girl, he guessed her to be about 17, maybe 18. Her pose and trembling made her seem much younger.
At the sight of Spike she whimpered and tried to worm under the dumpster to escape him. For some reason, her fear didn't amuse him as it once might have. Compassion? If you'd have asked him he would have denied it, even as he went out of his way to speak in hushed tones and reassure her.
"Hey. it's all right pet, I'm not gonna hurt you." His hushed English accent was vaguely familiar and the girl stopped her frantic struggle to get away to listen.
"Come here. You won't get far on that foot anyway." He beckoned her with one hand and crouched down so he could look her in the eyes.
Having little in the way of a choice, she wriggled forward, trusting the soft tone of his voice and gentleness in his face. Spike reached out and gently felt her ankle, obviously broken.
The girl whimpered and wriggled back again. This was going to be difficult. Why didn't he just go home? This was the slayers job, not his. But he didn't leave.
"It's OK Pet. I'm not going to hurt you." He kept his voice soft and gentle, resisting the nagging frustration he was developing toward the girl.
Jenny's mind raced. He didn't smell right, no matter how kind he sounded his scent wasn't right. He wasn't alive, he didn't breathe. Her ankle hurt, a lot. She knew enough of healing to know she'd never walk away on it, she'd need help and her warden was lost. She couldn't even smell him.
This man, whatever he was, seemed to be offering help. Could this be Giles? He's meant to be English. No, Giles should be much older, and at no point was Giles meant to be dead! No, this wasn't him. The Slayer is a female so it couldn't be her either.
For all her distrust, the voice of the stranger was gentle and there was nothing in his manner to suggest that he would harm her. He seemed quite caring in fact.
Tentatively she stretched her leg out again so he could look at her ankle.
"Well love, you aren't walking anywhere," He said softly. She had expected as much. But what were they going to do now?
"I'm Spike." He mumbled finally, wondering if it might be a mistake to tell her his real name incase she knew of him. The information didn't seem to bother her however, but neither did she respond by telling him her name.
"Well? You going to tell me your name Pet?" He asked slightly irritably.
Jenny of course, couldn't answer; she'd never been able to speak. Instead she gave a weak little smile and offered him her hand. Spike took it and shrugged.
"Not talking hmm? Fine by me love. I'll have to carry you. Now, no carrying on all right, if I wanted to hurt you I would have by now." He said, trying to sound stern, but he wasn't really fooling anyone.
He hefted carefully her up into his arms and she whimpered a little, from pain more than fright. Her arms went immediately about his neck where she clung to him tightly. Spike had to suppress a smile, it was a rather nice feeling to be so trusted and needed.
Spike felt rather ridiculous carrying a 17-year-old girl down the street, but to his surprise, no one bothered them. They didn't hit a single vamp on the way. Again, compassion? He'd never admit it, even though he now took her to his own lair to tend her wounds and decide how best to help her. Even as he carried her and cradled her against him to keep her safe, he'd have admitted no emotion, no care.
Not far away from that dumpster, curled up like an injured dog, lay a young man. Hidden safely in a bushy hedge he growled at his own stupidity. His brown hair was matted with blood and he held his left arm tightly to his body. With the bone poking through the skin the wound bled profusely.
His clothes were badly torn where vampires by the dozen had tried to kill him. His eyes shone gold in the dim light from a streetlamp, they wouldn't go green again for hours, and it would take all his strength to heal himself, if it was even possible.
His injuries were the last thing on his mind however. He'd lost her. Allowed them to be separated. He searched through the scents on the air and couldn't find her anywhere. Desperately he howled into the night hoping against hope to hear her nearby. but no reply came. He had failed. The Vampires would take her and she'd be lost, along with all that she was supposed to do.
In despair, he lapsed into unconsciousness, she had been the hope. and he had lost her.
Jenny had heard the howl. She could have been a hundred miles away and still heard it. Spike had just managed to get the to the tomb where he lived and had kicked the door open when she started to struggle. The sound of her warden's howl of pain and desperation had made her frantic to find him, to reassure him that she was OK.
"Hey! Calm down there! This is where I live its OK!" grunted Spike trying to keep from dropping her as she struggled in his arms.
With all her strength Jenny tried to break away but in her current state it was useless. She wanted to tell this bleached haired man what was wrong, that her protector was injured and needed her. no matter what she tried, nothing worked. Communication was impossible.
With a great deal of effort he managed to haul her inside and get her into the lower part of the crypt where he kept his bed and personal bit's and pieces. He put her on the bed and started hunting around for something to strap her ankle up with while she sat on the bed, crying softly and mewing like a lost kitten.
"Don't worry love. I wont let anything hurt you, I promise." His gentle words did little to comfort her but she smiled softly. At least she might still make it to Giles and the Slayer. Once she was there she'd be safe. She had been assured of that.
With a trembling hand, Jenny reached out to a pad of drawing paper. On the first few pages were drawing of a girl with sharp features and shoulder length hair. She flipped past them and picked up the pencil. In small spidery script she wrote 'Jenny' on the page and waited for the strange man to finish whatever he was doing and come back to where he could see her.
After a rather loud and swear-punctuated search, Spike reappeared with a bandage and a glass of water. Her looked at the paper that she held up and was momentarily embarrassed and angry. Those were his drawings of Buffy! No one was supposed to see them! But then he saw the small word and smiled instead of yelling.
"Jenny hu? Well it's nice to finally meet you." He grinned sarcastically. Kneeling before her, he slowly began to undo the laces of the old rebock sneaker she wore. Jenny whimpered a little but didn't pull away, despite himself, Spike tried to be gentler. A small finger poking him in the chest interrupted him. He looked up and she had a questioning expression on her face.
"Spike, already told you that." He grunted. Maybe this kid was thick?
Jenny shook her head and pointed to 'Jenny' written on the paper and then to herself, and then she pointed to Spike. Oh yeah, this one was dim. Spike stopped what he was doing and pointed to himself.
"Spike" He said firmly.
Again she shook her head seemingly incredibly frustrated. She repeated her sequence of gestures trying to get a name out of him. She refused to believe Spike was a name. Parents did not name their children Spike. She'd had a dog called Spike when she was very young.
Spike sighed and gave in. "William" he said somewhat defeated. He wasn't sure how he felt about someone thinking of him as William. 'William' had been a useless little man with a useless little life. Spike found that to be a little to close to his currant situation for his liking.
Jenny smiled and started writing on the paper again, allowing Spike to go back to bandaging her ankle. She growled like an animal at first and Spike felt sure she'd jump him at any moment. But she sat through his treatment and when he looked up, she held the paper out to him.
In spidery little letters it said 'Thank you for helping me. I'm here because I need to find some people. I was sent to find the Slayer and a man called Giles. I've been separated from my warden and I need to find him again. Can you help me?'
Spike just looked at the note caught between joy at having an excuse to go see Buffy, and really not wanting to lay eyes on her. He raised his cool blue eyes and looked into Jenny's brown ones. He was surprised at what he saw there.
His first impressions had been of a small childlike girl what was probably a bit of a pushover. someone all soft and mushy. If he'd still been 'the big bad' her would have found her oh so very biteable. What he saw now was different and he didn't expect it. This girl was hard. Tough. There were little scars on her neck, looked like she'd fended off attacks before. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't bring himself to tell her no.
"All right love. I'll take you to the Slayer. But she wont be happy to see me. we aren't on the best of terms right now." He realized she probably didn't care that he was in love with someone who didn't love him but he was to bitter to leave that last bit out.
Jenny smiled and scribbled again on the piece of paper. 'I can promise you, they will be happy to see me.' She was smiling brightly at him when he managed to look at her again.
"What are you exactly? You don't smell like anything special." He was getting wary now, if he accidentally took Buffy something hasty she'd probably not only never talk to him again but also kill him in the process of telling him she'd never talk to him again.
Jenny scribbled again on the paper 'the oracle, and the next great mother. They will know what to do.' She seemed about to write more but then, unwilling to share such information, left it at that.
"All right I can take a hint. Well, you still aren't walking anywhere, so I guess it's back to carrying you. Come on let's get this over with, I'll take you to Giles." Spike again lifted her into his arms and held her against his chest. This Do-Gooding wasn't so bad after all.
It took them quite a while to make their way through the streets of Sunnydale to Giles' home. Spike wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to get in, so he knocked rather tentatively at the worn wooden door. When it opened, a suspicious looking Giles stuck his head out.
"What do you want Spike? Buffy isn't here." He said guardedly.
"I'm not looking for the Slayer, we're here to see you." He shifted a little so Jenny's weight was spread more evenly "Can I come in and put her down now? She's not exactly feather light!"
Giles looked distrustful but stepped back and allowed Spike to enter. seems Giles hadn't had Spike put off the guest list like Buffy had. How charitable of him. Having gently set Jenny on the couch he tugged the paper from his back pocket along with a pencil and gave it to her.
"There you go, can I leave now?" he asked her without much conviction, truth was he was worried about the little brat.
'Please don't go. I don't know these people, only of them. At least I know you a little.' Was her written reply. She looked up at Giles and tugged the collar of her top aside to bare a strange looking tattoo on her right shoulder. The symbol of the triple moon phase.
"My God." mumbles Giles leaning in to get a closer look, "it's not possible. you're." her looked at her with large and disbelieving eyes.
"Maybe you can explain it to me old chum. I've been carting her about all night it'd be nice to know why." Grumbled Spike as he sat in a chair and popped open a bottle of whisky he'd found in the kitchen. Giles didn't even notice.
"She's. she'd the mother of the messiah." Giles seemed rather out of it at this point. Jenny, for her part was sitting on the couch scribbling furiously on the paper.
'My warden was lost fending of vampires earlier tonight. We have to find him! He could be dying or captured! I need the Slayer to help find him. I was sent here for you two to protect me.' She held up the paper and Giles nodded slowly.
"Umm, Spike you can go now." He said absently picking up the phone and dialing Buffy's number.
"I wont leave 'till I know she's alright." He moved and sat next to Jenny, who sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, without thinking Spike put his arm around her and began telling her everything would be OK. Jenny tilted her head back and smiled softly at him, reached up with one hand and patted his cheek gently.
"Alright, Buffy is on her way, Spike what are you still doing here?" Giles was obviously annoyed. after his little outburst at the magic shop, Spike wasn't sure he'd be able to push the old guy to far. But he was worried about Jenny. he couldn't deny that anymore.
"William has to stay. I've lost my warden, he can fill the position till I find him again" 'said' Jenny via the medium of paper and pencil.
Spike smiled a little and held Jenny around the shoulders gently. The contact wasn't at all unpleasant, and after having carried her around town half the night, the familiar feeling wasn't at all unwelcome. Secretly, Spike hoped Buffy would go nuts with jealousy to see him with his arm around another rather pretty young girl. He doubted it, but he could hope.
It didn't take long for Buffy to round up the Scooby gang and turn up at Giles door. Buffy's first words were rather predictable.
"What's he doing here?" she almost yelled at Giles accusingly.
"Uh, he brought her in," he gestured to Jenny with one hand, "I rather think we owe him a great debt of thanks for it. much as I hate to say something like that of course."
Buffy looked unconvinced and glared at Jenny almost as accusingly as she'd yelled at Giles.
"And who is she? Something evil that's going to want to eat us probably!"
Jenny whimpered softly and wriggled closer to Spike, she didn't really like this Buffy person, she yelled a lot and seemed very angry with her for something. Spike immediately wrapped his other arm around her.
"Its OK Pet. This is the Slayer." He said softly, trying to calm her down.
Jenny looked unconvinced and stayed close to Spike, not trusting this room that just filled up with strange new scents and feelings.
"Buffy. this is the next mother of Christ." Giles was trying very hard to sound all old and confident. Truth was that he was petrified. He never thought he'd live to see the second coming, yet here she was. The girl who was meant to start it all. He wondered idly who the father was meant to be.
Buffy just looked down at the rather unimpressive girl sitting before her. She didn't look like anything special, small, a little on the gangly side. Anyway, Buffy was in no mood to give her any credit at all, she was the reason Spike was now in the same room as her, and that was bad!
"Isn't she a little young?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well she isn't having it now is she, Slayer." Spike was quick to jump to Jenny's defense, partly because he really did feel sorry for this poor kid, and of course because it would just kill Buffy that he was right and she was wrong.
"Ungh! Don't even talk to me Spike, just sit and be silent!" Buffy snapped, this was turning out to be a very, very bad day.
Jenny cuddled into Spike's side and wondered why everyone seemed to be angry with her. Everyone except Spike of course, he seemed to be very nice, the only sane person here. Spike offered her some whisky without even thinking but Jenny scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
"More for me pet," he said with a grin, rather happy and the general chaos between the Scooby gang. They were all talking at once trying to work out what was going on. Well, all except for Tara, who was smiling in that friendly way of hers at Jenny.
After perhaps twenty minutes of this general bickering Terra managed to be heard over the din.
"I think she's nice." She said softly, but then, Terra always spoke softly.
"Me too, she's all cute and small and nice. But. Giles she doesn't look very. well. you know. pregnant." Willow was rambling. but that was OK, it was Willow after all.
"Well she isn't pregnant yet, she wont be until she turns twenty one or so as I understand it." Giles was cleaning his glasses, a sure sign he was flummoxed and rather concerned.
"So what are we supposed to do with her? Find her a boyfriend?" Buffy hadn't been sleeping, she was always foul tempered when she hadn't slept, and this little girl was getting all the attention usually reserved for the 'chosen one'. Not to mention the fact that Spike was the one who brought her in.
From somewhere outside there was a howl, something wild and animal in the neighborhood. Nothing new for Sunnydale. Jenny started going nuts, squirming and mewing loudly, trying with all her might to get up of the couch but her ankle wouldn't support her weight and she fell back down with a whimper.
"Hey. Love calm down! Just a wild dog. Sunnydale is full of things like that. It's all right nothing is going to hurt you." Spike was trying to be comforting and gentle like he had been all night but Jenny wasn't having any of it. Somewhere outside and very close by was her warden and she'd been parted from him for most of the night, longer than they'd ever been apart their entire lives.
"Here, write it on this, what's wrong?" Spike shoved the paper and pencil at her. Buffy was looking on in mild annoyance. And why was Spike being so nice to this girl anyway? He'd have lost his patience way before now if it were anyone else. Hey? Why did she even care? She didn't. She spent the next few moments convincing herself of that fact.
'My warden! He's outside! He needs me!' was Jenny's franticly scribbled message. It didn't come in time to save Giles door however.
Moments after Spike translated for everyone, the heavy wooden door of Giles home came crashing in sending splinters of wood and door hinges flying in all directions. Buffy was instantly on her feet ready to kill whatever nasty, hairy, slimy or generally bad monster this was. What she saw made her stop in her tracks.
In the doorway was a guy. A rather good-looking guy at that. With shaggy brown hair and alluring golden eyes. His left arm was cradled against his chest and he looked like he'd seen a lot of action. He growled menacingly at everyone until his eyes fell on Jenny who was practically crawling out of her skin trying to get to him. He loped (if a man can lope) across the room and crumpled into a heap at her feet. Jenny slipped down off the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck gently, she began to mew and whimper at him, stroking his hair and nuzzling her nose against his face and neck as a kitten would.
The entire room remained silent for a long time, simply watching this exchange, until finally Buffy burst out.
"What's going on here?"
The handsome young man looked up at her, his eyes and changed from golden to an even more attractive emerald green.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't myself. and I thought I'd lost her." all his attention then returned to Jenny as he nuzzled her back in exactly the same way, except he came of looking more like a wolf with his ruffled hair and hard features.
Giles looked on quietly for a moment, refusing to let the tenderness of the moment bring a tear to his eyes, he'd already forgotten about his broken door. That thing had fallen down so many times the repair guys knew him by name.
"Well. we need to get you to a hospital before we do anything." He finally managed to say.
"No, they'll be watching the hospitals." Mumbled the young man, his head now in Jenny's lap, she was stroking his hair gently.
"Who will? Who are you? Who's she? What's going on?" Buffy was feeling out of the loop and she didn't like it at all.
Jenny glared at Buffy, it was obvious these two weren't going to get along, but Jenny's lack of voice kept the rude comments right where they were, on the tip of her tongue. Instead she stroked the young mans hair and gazed at him tenderly.
"I'm sorry. I'm Andrew. Andrew Bairned, this is Jenny Nichols. We're meant to find the Slayer and her Watcher, but I lost her in a fight with some vampires." The young man was obviously in a lot of pain, Willow and Terra were already moving around the room making teas to calm him and herbs to heal him seeing a hospital would be out of the question.
"You've found us. You'll both be quite safe now. I'm Giles, that over there is Buffy. This is Xander, Willow, Terra and Anya." He rattled of the well-known names and smiled at each Scooby member in turn. He pointedly left Spike out, but Jenny would have none of that. She kneeled up and tugged at Spikes arm and smiled from him to Andrew.
"She wants to thank you. she says you helped her get here." Smiled Andrew in genuine gratitude.
"Well. I can't eat her so. just don't go getting all mushy over it all right." If the air hadn't been so tense, someone would have laughed at his discomfort.
Tara gently reached out to take Andrews arm but he growled at her as she reached to touch it. Jenny gently slapped his chest in silent rebuke.
"Sorry." he mumbled, "habit." he finished, but way of explanation. Tara didn't seem to mind that much and checked his arm over. It was in a real mess.
"Willow. we need to set this. can you help me?" she asked softly.
Without a word Willow moved over and kneeled next to Terra and put on hand on Andrews shoulder gently.
"This is going to hurt. a whole lot. do you want something to bite down on?" she asked.
Andrew simply set his teeth and shook his head, turning his face away so he couldn't see, his cheek resting lightly on Jenny's knee. She reached down and took his hand gently in hers, when the bone was set, Andrews ear piercing scream was probably heard miles away. Jenny whimpered softly at the pressure he was putting on her hand and he hastily relaxed, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it gently.
"There. It'll head straight now." mumbled Tara as she fuzzed around with bandages and a sling.
In a matter of minutes the two young people curled around each other on the floor were being bombarded by questions about where they came from, who they where and how they managed to find their way to Sunny dale.
Andrew took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he blinked his eyes it seems almost as if he was becoming accustomed to the pain and hence could ignore it.
"Jenny was born in Germany, when she was one the mark rose on her skin and the knights came for her, taking her from her parents." He began.
"Wait wait, what knights?" asked Giles.
"The knights Templar, they have been waiting for her for thousands of years, when she was found she was taken back to France for her own protection. I was found a year later when we were both two, I was scraping at the door of the building she was in. The knights brought me inside and found the same mark on my body, I was meant to be her protector. We haven't been apart since."
"Why were you sent to us? If it was the knights task to protect you?" Asked Willow.
"The first signs have come to pass. We aren't safe in Europe anymore. The first sign, the redeemed destroyer is tested, and in the end his faith is restored to him, he gains his redemption."
Buffy looked at the young man closely and sighed.
"Angel." she mumbled
"The second sign was the appearance of a demon of fire, a true servant of Satan who would come to claim her key, only to be destroyed by loves second death."
All eyes turned to Buffy and Giles cleared his throat and cleaned his glasses.
"Things are going to come to pass in Europe that Jenny can't be a part of, it's to dangerous for her there, and the leader of our order decided that she would be safest if we came to you." He finished.
Jenny leaned down and rested her forehead against his closing her eyes and willing herself close to him again. The last few hours had been the most traumatic in her well-nurtured life; she'd never been forced to be without him before.
"Question, why doesn't the little bit talk?" asked Spike.
"She never spoke. The knights said when they first took her she knew a few words in German, but once she entered the temple she refused to speak. Before me her companion was a stray cat that wandered into the complex and she refused to let them take it from her. they think that's why she makes the sounds she does. Like a cat." Andrew smiled tenderly at his ward and touched her face with the back of one long finger.
"Can you give us any idea of what could be coming after you both?" Giles frowned and finally managed to put his glasses back on.
Andrew sighed and turned his gaze up to meet Giles'.
"Everything the Darkness can think to throw at us. Jenny's baby will be the most powerful being on Earth since Jesus Christ. Even more frightening than the idea of them killing her, is the idea of them taking her. If they can force the child to be a mingling of something unnatural instead of a child born out of love. then it could easily be the end of us all." Andrew looked down at his broken arm and then up into Jenny's trusting face.
Jenny took a breath and smiled bravely at him, patting his uninjured shoulder gently. Andrew let out a short barking laugh.
"She says she trusts me. and she knows we'll protect her."
The scoobies looked at each other in a mixture of awe and fear. In all the time they had been servants, warriors for God, they had all wondered it. thought the question that dare not be answered. In all this time, where had God been? Why hadn't he put in an appearance to help them? Before them sat a girl, small slip of a thing, who may just hold the answers.
OK, I know it is SO far from being finished, but if you want more then I want feedback! PLEASE!
Kitten.
Water dripped almost lazily from the eaves above the street. Not a single person, stray dog or bird graced the coldness with it's presence. There was not a soul wandering the streets to see the small girl huddling in fear behind a dumpster, hugging her trembling knees to her chest and crying silently into her arms.
Not a soul, but there were monsters, Vampires, with their twisted faces and cold yellow eyes. This night they were out in force, even for Sunnydale, this was excessive.
Somehow, cuddled there in the dark, the girl escaped their notice, although it was her that they sought. Even though the smell of her fear was heavy in the air, something divine allowed her to escape capture and death. It hid her from their senses. well, all but one.
Spike was grumbling to himself, as usual. A little about the number of vampires he had to dodge this night, a little about the chip in his head. But mostly, it was about Buffy. That damn girl! He ran a hand though his permanently bleached hair and threw the butt of his cigarette into a garden.
He was so deep into his own private world that the stink of incredible human fear nearly escaped his notice. Vampires are attracted to fear, blood and bright colors. Spike on the other hand tried to avoid all of the above. Fear frustrated him, as he was rarely the cause of it (and after these last few years, he wasn't sure how he felt about that). Blood, though the only thing that sustained him, always came from a butcher who didn't ask questions. Bright colors? Well they just didn't match his skin or personality.
This fear however reached out and grasped him by the throat! He felt saturated by it. Any other vampire would have 'changed' at once. Taking on the prominent forehead and cold yellow eyes of the hunt and found its source to feed. These things didn't come naturally to Spike anymore, and he really wasn't sure he minded. So, track the scent he did, but not to feed. He wasn't really sure why he went, curiosity perhaps, that's what he told himself. To the casual observer however, it would have been obvious he was running to the rescue despite himself.
Halfway down an ally, curled up behind a dumpster and crying was the pitiful little creature he could smell. A girl, he guessed her to be about 17, maybe 18. Her pose and trembling made her seem much younger.
At the sight of Spike she whimpered and tried to worm under the dumpster to escape him. For some reason, her fear didn't amuse him as it once might have. Compassion? If you'd have asked him he would have denied it, even as he went out of his way to speak in hushed tones and reassure her.
"Hey. it's all right pet, I'm not gonna hurt you." His hushed English accent was vaguely familiar and the girl stopped her frantic struggle to get away to listen.
"Come here. You won't get far on that foot anyway." He beckoned her with one hand and crouched down so he could look her in the eyes.
Having little in the way of a choice, she wriggled forward, trusting the soft tone of his voice and gentleness in his face. Spike reached out and gently felt her ankle, obviously broken.
The girl whimpered and wriggled back again. This was going to be difficult. Why didn't he just go home? This was the slayers job, not his. But he didn't leave.
"It's OK Pet. I'm not going to hurt you." He kept his voice soft and gentle, resisting the nagging frustration he was developing toward the girl.
Jenny's mind raced. He didn't smell right, no matter how kind he sounded his scent wasn't right. He wasn't alive, he didn't breathe. Her ankle hurt, a lot. She knew enough of healing to know she'd never walk away on it, she'd need help and her warden was lost. She couldn't even smell him.
This man, whatever he was, seemed to be offering help. Could this be Giles? He's meant to be English. No, Giles should be much older, and at no point was Giles meant to be dead! No, this wasn't him. The Slayer is a female so it couldn't be her either.
For all her distrust, the voice of the stranger was gentle and there was nothing in his manner to suggest that he would harm her. He seemed quite caring in fact.
Tentatively she stretched her leg out again so he could look at her ankle.
"Well love, you aren't walking anywhere," He said softly. She had expected as much. But what were they going to do now?
"I'm Spike." He mumbled finally, wondering if it might be a mistake to tell her his real name incase she knew of him. The information didn't seem to bother her however, but neither did she respond by telling him her name.
"Well? You going to tell me your name Pet?" He asked slightly irritably.
Jenny of course, couldn't answer; she'd never been able to speak. Instead she gave a weak little smile and offered him her hand. Spike took it and shrugged.
"Not talking hmm? Fine by me love. I'll have to carry you. Now, no carrying on all right, if I wanted to hurt you I would have by now." He said, trying to sound stern, but he wasn't really fooling anyone.
He hefted carefully her up into his arms and she whimpered a little, from pain more than fright. Her arms went immediately about his neck where she clung to him tightly. Spike had to suppress a smile, it was a rather nice feeling to be so trusted and needed.
Spike felt rather ridiculous carrying a 17-year-old girl down the street, but to his surprise, no one bothered them. They didn't hit a single vamp on the way. Again, compassion? He'd never admit it, even though he now took her to his own lair to tend her wounds and decide how best to help her. Even as he carried her and cradled her against him to keep her safe, he'd have admitted no emotion, no care.
Not far away from that dumpster, curled up like an injured dog, lay a young man. Hidden safely in a bushy hedge he growled at his own stupidity. His brown hair was matted with blood and he held his left arm tightly to his body. With the bone poking through the skin the wound bled profusely.
His clothes were badly torn where vampires by the dozen had tried to kill him. His eyes shone gold in the dim light from a streetlamp, they wouldn't go green again for hours, and it would take all his strength to heal himself, if it was even possible.
His injuries were the last thing on his mind however. He'd lost her. Allowed them to be separated. He searched through the scents on the air and couldn't find her anywhere. Desperately he howled into the night hoping against hope to hear her nearby. but no reply came. He had failed. The Vampires would take her and she'd be lost, along with all that she was supposed to do.
In despair, he lapsed into unconsciousness, she had been the hope. and he had lost her.
Jenny had heard the howl. She could have been a hundred miles away and still heard it. Spike had just managed to get the to the tomb where he lived and had kicked the door open when she started to struggle. The sound of her warden's howl of pain and desperation had made her frantic to find him, to reassure him that she was OK.
"Hey! Calm down there! This is where I live its OK!" grunted Spike trying to keep from dropping her as she struggled in his arms.
With all her strength Jenny tried to break away but in her current state it was useless. She wanted to tell this bleached haired man what was wrong, that her protector was injured and needed her. no matter what she tried, nothing worked. Communication was impossible.
With a great deal of effort he managed to haul her inside and get her into the lower part of the crypt where he kept his bed and personal bit's and pieces. He put her on the bed and started hunting around for something to strap her ankle up with while she sat on the bed, crying softly and mewing like a lost kitten.
"Don't worry love. I wont let anything hurt you, I promise." His gentle words did little to comfort her but she smiled softly. At least she might still make it to Giles and the Slayer. Once she was there she'd be safe. She had been assured of that.
With a trembling hand, Jenny reached out to a pad of drawing paper. On the first few pages were drawing of a girl with sharp features and shoulder length hair. She flipped past them and picked up the pencil. In small spidery script she wrote 'Jenny' on the page and waited for the strange man to finish whatever he was doing and come back to where he could see her.
After a rather loud and swear-punctuated search, Spike reappeared with a bandage and a glass of water. Her looked at the paper that she held up and was momentarily embarrassed and angry. Those were his drawings of Buffy! No one was supposed to see them! But then he saw the small word and smiled instead of yelling.
"Jenny hu? Well it's nice to finally meet you." He grinned sarcastically. Kneeling before her, he slowly began to undo the laces of the old rebock sneaker she wore. Jenny whimpered a little but didn't pull away, despite himself, Spike tried to be gentler. A small finger poking him in the chest interrupted him. He looked up and she had a questioning expression on her face.
"Spike, already told you that." He grunted. Maybe this kid was thick?
Jenny shook her head and pointed to 'Jenny' written on the paper and then to herself, and then she pointed to Spike. Oh yeah, this one was dim. Spike stopped what he was doing and pointed to himself.
"Spike" He said firmly.
Again she shook her head seemingly incredibly frustrated. She repeated her sequence of gestures trying to get a name out of him. She refused to believe Spike was a name. Parents did not name their children Spike. She'd had a dog called Spike when she was very young.
Spike sighed and gave in. "William" he said somewhat defeated. He wasn't sure how he felt about someone thinking of him as William. 'William' had been a useless little man with a useless little life. Spike found that to be a little to close to his currant situation for his liking.
Jenny smiled and started writing on the paper again, allowing Spike to go back to bandaging her ankle. She growled like an animal at first and Spike felt sure she'd jump him at any moment. But she sat through his treatment and when he looked up, she held the paper out to him.
In spidery little letters it said 'Thank you for helping me. I'm here because I need to find some people. I was sent to find the Slayer and a man called Giles. I've been separated from my warden and I need to find him again. Can you help me?'
Spike just looked at the note caught between joy at having an excuse to go see Buffy, and really not wanting to lay eyes on her. He raised his cool blue eyes and looked into Jenny's brown ones. He was surprised at what he saw there.
His first impressions had been of a small childlike girl what was probably a bit of a pushover. someone all soft and mushy. If he'd still been 'the big bad' her would have found her oh so very biteable. What he saw now was different and he didn't expect it. This girl was hard. Tough. There were little scars on her neck, looked like she'd fended off attacks before. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't bring himself to tell her no.
"All right love. I'll take you to the Slayer. But she wont be happy to see me. we aren't on the best of terms right now." He realized she probably didn't care that he was in love with someone who didn't love him but he was to bitter to leave that last bit out.
Jenny smiled and scribbled again on the piece of paper. 'I can promise you, they will be happy to see me.' She was smiling brightly at him when he managed to look at her again.
"What are you exactly? You don't smell like anything special." He was getting wary now, if he accidentally took Buffy something hasty she'd probably not only never talk to him again but also kill him in the process of telling him she'd never talk to him again.
Jenny scribbled again on the paper 'the oracle, and the next great mother. They will know what to do.' She seemed about to write more but then, unwilling to share such information, left it at that.
"All right I can take a hint. Well, you still aren't walking anywhere, so I guess it's back to carrying you. Come on let's get this over with, I'll take you to Giles." Spike again lifted her into his arms and held her against his chest. This Do-Gooding wasn't so bad after all.
It took them quite a while to make their way through the streets of Sunnydale to Giles' home. Spike wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to get in, so he knocked rather tentatively at the worn wooden door. When it opened, a suspicious looking Giles stuck his head out.
"What do you want Spike? Buffy isn't here." He said guardedly.
"I'm not looking for the Slayer, we're here to see you." He shifted a little so Jenny's weight was spread more evenly "Can I come in and put her down now? She's not exactly feather light!"
Giles looked distrustful but stepped back and allowed Spike to enter. seems Giles hadn't had Spike put off the guest list like Buffy had. How charitable of him. Having gently set Jenny on the couch he tugged the paper from his back pocket along with a pencil and gave it to her.
"There you go, can I leave now?" he asked her without much conviction, truth was he was worried about the little brat.
'Please don't go. I don't know these people, only of them. At least I know you a little.' Was her written reply. She looked up at Giles and tugged the collar of her top aside to bare a strange looking tattoo on her right shoulder. The symbol of the triple moon phase.
"My God." mumbles Giles leaning in to get a closer look, "it's not possible. you're." her looked at her with large and disbelieving eyes.
"Maybe you can explain it to me old chum. I've been carting her about all night it'd be nice to know why." Grumbled Spike as he sat in a chair and popped open a bottle of whisky he'd found in the kitchen. Giles didn't even notice.
"She's. she'd the mother of the messiah." Giles seemed rather out of it at this point. Jenny, for her part was sitting on the couch scribbling furiously on the paper.
'My warden was lost fending of vampires earlier tonight. We have to find him! He could be dying or captured! I need the Slayer to help find him. I was sent here for you two to protect me.' She held up the paper and Giles nodded slowly.
"Umm, Spike you can go now." He said absently picking up the phone and dialing Buffy's number.
"I wont leave 'till I know she's alright." He moved and sat next to Jenny, who sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, without thinking Spike put his arm around her and began telling her everything would be OK. Jenny tilted her head back and smiled softly at him, reached up with one hand and patted his cheek gently.
"Alright, Buffy is on her way, Spike what are you still doing here?" Giles was obviously annoyed. after his little outburst at the magic shop, Spike wasn't sure he'd be able to push the old guy to far. But he was worried about Jenny. he couldn't deny that anymore.
"William has to stay. I've lost my warden, he can fill the position till I find him again" 'said' Jenny via the medium of paper and pencil.
Spike smiled a little and held Jenny around the shoulders gently. The contact wasn't at all unpleasant, and after having carried her around town half the night, the familiar feeling wasn't at all unwelcome. Secretly, Spike hoped Buffy would go nuts with jealousy to see him with his arm around another rather pretty young girl. He doubted it, but he could hope.
It didn't take long for Buffy to round up the Scooby gang and turn up at Giles door. Buffy's first words were rather predictable.
"What's he doing here?" she almost yelled at Giles accusingly.
"Uh, he brought her in," he gestured to Jenny with one hand, "I rather think we owe him a great debt of thanks for it. much as I hate to say something like that of course."
Buffy looked unconvinced and glared at Jenny almost as accusingly as she'd yelled at Giles.
"And who is she? Something evil that's going to want to eat us probably!"
Jenny whimpered softly and wriggled closer to Spike, she didn't really like this Buffy person, she yelled a lot and seemed very angry with her for something. Spike immediately wrapped his other arm around her.
"Its OK Pet. This is the Slayer." He said softly, trying to calm her down.
Jenny looked unconvinced and stayed close to Spike, not trusting this room that just filled up with strange new scents and feelings.
"Buffy. this is the next mother of Christ." Giles was trying very hard to sound all old and confident. Truth was that he was petrified. He never thought he'd live to see the second coming, yet here she was. The girl who was meant to start it all. He wondered idly who the father was meant to be.
Buffy just looked down at the rather unimpressive girl sitting before her. She didn't look like anything special, small, a little on the gangly side. Anyway, Buffy was in no mood to give her any credit at all, she was the reason Spike was now in the same room as her, and that was bad!
"Isn't she a little young?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well she isn't having it now is she, Slayer." Spike was quick to jump to Jenny's defense, partly because he really did feel sorry for this poor kid, and of course because it would just kill Buffy that he was right and she was wrong.
"Ungh! Don't even talk to me Spike, just sit and be silent!" Buffy snapped, this was turning out to be a very, very bad day.
Jenny cuddled into Spike's side and wondered why everyone seemed to be angry with her. Everyone except Spike of course, he seemed to be very nice, the only sane person here. Spike offered her some whisky without even thinking but Jenny scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
"More for me pet," he said with a grin, rather happy and the general chaos between the Scooby gang. They were all talking at once trying to work out what was going on. Well, all except for Tara, who was smiling in that friendly way of hers at Jenny.
After perhaps twenty minutes of this general bickering Terra managed to be heard over the din.
"I think she's nice." She said softly, but then, Terra always spoke softly.
"Me too, she's all cute and small and nice. But. Giles she doesn't look very. well. you know. pregnant." Willow was rambling. but that was OK, it was Willow after all.
"Well she isn't pregnant yet, she wont be until she turns twenty one or so as I understand it." Giles was cleaning his glasses, a sure sign he was flummoxed and rather concerned.
"So what are we supposed to do with her? Find her a boyfriend?" Buffy hadn't been sleeping, she was always foul tempered when she hadn't slept, and this little girl was getting all the attention usually reserved for the 'chosen one'. Not to mention the fact that Spike was the one who brought her in.
From somewhere outside there was a howl, something wild and animal in the neighborhood. Nothing new for Sunnydale. Jenny started going nuts, squirming and mewing loudly, trying with all her might to get up of the couch but her ankle wouldn't support her weight and she fell back down with a whimper.
"Hey. Love calm down! Just a wild dog. Sunnydale is full of things like that. It's all right nothing is going to hurt you." Spike was trying to be comforting and gentle like he had been all night but Jenny wasn't having any of it. Somewhere outside and very close by was her warden and she'd been parted from him for most of the night, longer than they'd ever been apart their entire lives.
"Here, write it on this, what's wrong?" Spike shoved the paper and pencil at her. Buffy was looking on in mild annoyance. And why was Spike being so nice to this girl anyway? He'd have lost his patience way before now if it were anyone else. Hey? Why did she even care? She didn't. She spent the next few moments convincing herself of that fact.
'My warden! He's outside! He needs me!' was Jenny's franticly scribbled message. It didn't come in time to save Giles door however.
Moments after Spike translated for everyone, the heavy wooden door of Giles home came crashing in sending splinters of wood and door hinges flying in all directions. Buffy was instantly on her feet ready to kill whatever nasty, hairy, slimy or generally bad monster this was. What she saw made her stop in her tracks.
In the doorway was a guy. A rather good-looking guy at that. With shaggy brown hair and alluring golden eyes. His left arm was cradled against his chest and he looked like he'd seen a lot of action. He growled menacingly at everyone until his eyes fell on Jenny who was practically crawling out of her skin trying to get to him. He loped (if a man can lope) across the room and crumpled into a heap at her feet. Jenny slipped down off the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck gently, she began to mew and whimper at him, stroking his hair and nuzzling her nose against his face and neck as a kitten would.
The entire room remained silent for a long time, simply watching this exchange, until finally Buffy burst out.
"What's going on here?"
The handsome young man looked up at her, his eyes and changed from golden to an even more attractive emerald green.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't myself. and I thought I'd lost her." all his attention then returned to Jenny as he nuzzled her back in exactly the same way, except he came of looking more like a wolf with his ruffled hair and hard features.
Giles looked on quietly for a moment, refusing to let the tenderness of the moment bring a tear to his eyes, he'd already forgotten about his broken door. That thing had fallen down so many times the repair guys knew him by name.
"Well. we need to get you to a hospital before we do anything." He finally managed to say.
"No, they'll be watching the hospitals." Mumbled the young man, his head now in Jenny's lap, she was stroking his hair gently.
"Who will? Who are you? Who's she? What's going on?" Buffy was feeling out of the loop and she didn't like it at all.
Jenny glared at Buffy, it was obvious these two weren't going to get along, but Jenny's lack of voice kept the rude comments right where they were, on the tip of her tongue. Instead she stroked the young mans hair and gazed at him tenderly.
"I'm sorry. I'm Andrew. Andrew Bairned, this is Jenny Nichols. We're meant to find the Slayer and her Watcher, but I lost her in a fight with some vampires." The young man was obviously in a lot of pain, Willow and Terra were already moving around the room making teas to calm him and herbs to heal him seeing a hospital would be out of the question.
"You've found us. You'll both be quite safe now. I'm Giles, that over there is Buffy. This is Xander, Willow, Terra and Anya." He rattled of the well-known names and smiled at each Scooby member in turn. He pointedly left Spike out, but Jenny would have none of that. She kneeled up and tugged at Spikes arm and smiled from him to Andrew.
"She wants to thank you. she says you helped her get here." Smiled Andrew in genuine gratitude.
"Well. I can't eat her so. just don't go getting all mushy over it all right." If the air hadn't been so tense, someone would have laughed at his discomfort.
Tara gently reached out to take Andrews arm but he growled at her as she reached to touch it. Jenny gently slapped his chest in silent rebuke.
"Sorry." he mumbled, "habit." he finished, but way of explanation. Tara didn't seem to mind that much and checked his arm over. It was in a real mess.
"Willow. we need to set this. can you help me?" she asked softly.
Without a word Willow moved over and kneeled next to Terra and put on hand on Andrews shoulder gently.
"This is going to hurt. a whole lot. do you want something to bite down on?" she asked.
Andrew simply set his teeth and shook his head, turning his face away so he couldn't see, his cheek resting lightly on Jenny's knee. She reached down and took his hand gently in hers, when the bone was set, Andrews ear piercing scream was probably heard miles away. Jenny whimpered softly at the pressure he was putting on her hand and he hastily relaxed, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it gently.
"There. It'll head straight now." mumbled Tara as she fuzzed around with bandages and a sling.
In a matter of minutes the two young people curled around each other on the floor were being bombarded by questions about where they came from, who they where and how they managed to find their way to Sunny dale.
Andrew took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he blinked his eyes it seems almost as if he was becoming accustomed to the pain and hence could ignore it.
"Jenny was born in Germany, when she was one the mark rose on her skin and the knights came for her, taking her from her parents." He began.
"Wait wait, what knights?" asked Giles.
"The knights Templar, they have been waiting for her for thousands of years, when she was found she was taken back to France for her own protection. I was found a year later when we were both two, I was scraping at the door of the building she was in. The knights brought me inside and found the same mark on my body, I was meant to be her protector. We haven't been apart since."
"Why were you sent to us? If it was the knights task to protect you?" Asked Willow.
"The first signs have come to pass. We aren't safe in Europe anymore. The first sign, the redeemed destroyer is tested, and in the end his faith is restored to him, he gains his redemption."
Buffy looked at the young man closely and sighed.
"Angel." she mumbled
"The second sign was the appearance of a demon of fire, a true servant of Satan who would come to claim her key, only to be destroyed by loves second death."
All eyes turned to Buffy and Giles cleared his throat and cleaned his glasses.
"Things are going to come to pass in Europe that Jenny can't be a part of, it's to dangerous for her there, and the leader of our order decided that she would be safest if we came to you." He finished.
Jenny leaned down and rested her forehead against his closing her eyes and willing herself close to him again. The last few hours had been the most traumatic in her well-nurtured life; she'd never been forced to be without him before.
"Question, why doesn't the little bit talk?" asked Spike.
"She never spoke. The knights said when they first took her she knew a few words in German, but once she entered the temple she refused to speak. Before me her companion was a stray cat that wandered into the complex and she refused to let them take it from her. they think that's why she makes the sounds she does. Like a cat." Andrew smiled tenderly at his ward and touched her face with the back of one long finger.
"Can you give us any idea of what could be coming after you both?" Giles frowned and finally managed to put his glasses back on.
Andrew sighed and turned his gaze up to meet Giles'.
"Everything the Darkness can think to throw at us. Jenny's baby will be the most powerful being on Earth since Jesus Christ. Even more frightening than the idea of them killing her, is the idea of them taking her. If they can force the child to be a mingling of something unnatural instead of a child born out of love. then it could easily be the end of us all." Andrew looked down at his broken arm and then up into Jenny's trusting face.
Jenny took a breath and smiled bravely at him, patting his uninjured shoulder gently. Andrew let out a short barking laugh.
"She says she trusts me. and she knows we'll protect her."
The scoobies looked at each other in a mixture of awe and fear. In all the time they had been servants, warriors for God, they had all wondered it. thought the question that dare not be answered. In all this time, where had God been? Why hadn't he put in an appearance to help them? Before them sat a girl, small slip of a thing, who may just hold the answers.
OK, I know it is SO far from being finished, but if you want more then I want feedback! PLEASE!
Kitten.
